After making alligators more terrifying than they already are with his 2019 thriller Crawl, Alexandre Aja has signed on to direct ELIJAH for Searchlight Pictures. The original pitch for the horror feature was presented by The Last Witch Hunter scribe Cory Goodman, which Aja will rewrite with Gregory Levasseur (Mirrors). Meanwhile, David Goyer and Keith Levine of Phantom Four will produce alongside Adam Goldworm of Aperture Entertainment.
According to Deadline, Elijah follows a young boy who invites a mysterious man into his home, believing the stranger to be the key to saving his sick mother. As increasingly disturbing things start to happen around his home, the boy soon realizes that the sinister stranger is not the savior he claims to be.
In addition to directing one of 2019's best creature features, Crawl, Aja was also the talent behind the camera for such films as Haute Tension, The Hills Have Eyes, Mirrors, Piranha 3D, as well as the feature adaptation of Joe Hill's Horns, starring Daniel Radcliffe. Aja's next feature, O2, is currently in post-production. Written by Christie LeBlanc, the film revolves around a woman who wakes in a cryogenic chamber with no recollection of how she got there and must find a way out before running out of air.
Good grief! Aja sure knows how to pick 'em, right? Having been a fan of Aja's for years, I'm excited to see what he does with the mysterious premise of Elijah. Has the young boy invited a boogeyman into his home? Is the film's mysterious stranger the source of the mother's illness? We'll have to wait for more details to find out.